In anticipation of the upcoming Ant-Man movie starring Simon Pegg we look at some other ant-related flicks . . .

Ants are creepy. Whether they’re the tiny, everyday variety that form an endless line of intruders sneaking into your home, or giant mutant monsters with the power to pinch a man’s body in half, there’s something about these crawling, pinching insects that manages to get under our skin.

Perhaps that’s why ants and ant-like creatures make such good fodder for Sci-Fi films. Maybe there’s something buried in mankind’s subconscious that makes humans naturally wary of these skittering, swarming bugs. Try to imagine a carelessly discarded sandwich lying on the ground, a bit too close to the nearby anthill. Within moments, that bad boy is alive with movement as a sheet of red and black ants swarm over the dropped snack, writhing and pulsing until, piece by piece, the sandwich completely disappears. Now imagine that swarm crawling over your own flesh. See? Something buried deep in your subconscious is telling you just how wrong that image is. Ants are pests and meant to be avoided. And, in some pretty fantastic Sci-Fi flicks, they also just so happen to make fantastic baddies.

Here are five of the top Sci-Fi movies featuring ants in all of their various, disturbing forms. From pint-sized critters bent on taking over the world to hive-minded slaves looking to take over the world, here are some creepy-crawlies worth looking out for. Spoilers, obviously, abound.

Them

If you’re going to talk about ant movies, you might as well start with the granddaddy of them all, right? In Them, a race of super-sized ants start wreaking havoc out in the deserts of New Mexico, killing soldiers and police officers and threatening to make their way into the city. A common theme of the 50’s, it turns out that these killing machines are of mankind’s own creation, the result of early nuclear testing. Thank goodness none of those winged ants were around, otherwise humanity would have likely been done for. It was hard enough killing those things when they were stuck on the ground.

Phase IV

Another classic ant-themed sci-fi flick, Phase IV ditches the nuclear-enhanced crawlers and instead focuses on the insects in their most basic and terrifying form. An ant the size of a bus can be shot down with a bazooka. A massive swarm of tiny ants intent on wiping out mankind, however, is a bit more tricky to handle.

The Ant Bully

A little something for the kiddies, The Ant Bully is all about a mischievous child who, after terrorizing a colony of ants, finds himself shrunken down and made to join their ranks as a worker. The boy, Lucas, eventually learns to respect their way of life and even helps them survive an onslaught of attacks from the big, bad exterminator.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

An absolute classic, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids follows a foursome of youths who accidentally get shrunken down thanks to a crazy inventor’s latest contraption. Now on the far side of the lawn, the kiddos must make their way back home. A simple handful of steps for an average human becomes an epic quest for the shrunken youth, including discoveries of long-lost toys, a battle with a lawnmower and even an encounter with a (now) massive ant. The ant and the kids eventually become friends but, even then, the glistening, hairy critter carries a certain air of terror about him.

The World’s End

While not technically about ants of any size, The World’s End is a recent Sci-Fi flick that features a terrifying enemy force that perfectly emulates the creepy insects. A quiet burg that’s been taken over by an alien force results in a group of friends being hunted down by the creatures operating under a sort of shared hive-mind. The robotic monsters are fine when left alone but, once agitated, they swarm over their enemies, stopping at nothing to bring them into the fold.